did they call the navajo nation? no it was 48 hours before you bothered to make contact with the navajo nation. when you offered support, two people came down -- two to go sit in the control center. basically to spy and to see what was going on there. they weren't do there working hard to get this thing cleaned up. we're going to hear from the president of the navajo nation. he is the one that told bus this and what's going on. you can shake your head no. but that's exactly what happened. it's highly offensive. hand out waiver forms. try to limit the liability instead of taking care of what you knew was happening more than a year in advance. more than a year in advance. that's what's so deeply concerning here. one other point that i would like to make as we go along in this, in june of 2014, the epa contracted with the environmental restoration, a company, to work the gold king mine. in the contract, again, a year in advance -- more than a year, the contract said, conditions may exist that could in a blowout of the b

my name is russell begaye, president of the navajo nation. i was born and raised along the river in shiprock. years ago we saw hundreds of dead fish floating down the river. as boys we jumped in the river catching the dying fish. i have been asking for years why they were dead. i did not get an answer until august 13 when administrator mccarthy came to visit our nation. 1.5 million gallons of radium tutus build from the site located in my hometown. we not only swam in that radioactive water, but my brothers eight the contaminated fish. i am asking this committee to not allow history to repeat itself and told the epa accountable for the toxic spill that occurred on august 5. do not let them get away with negligence. our people are suffering. much of the crops of been lost, livestock is pinned up , ranchers are exhausted from hauling water, children are afraid of the water. we are told that cleanup will take decades. today we come to ask for help. the white house is silent. fema, doi, and other federal agencies are being told to not use there o

our navajo nation epa. epa can provide the funds or whatever entity can provide us the funds and we can do our own cleanup and we will do it in the way it should be done, properly. thank you. >> councilman, olguin, do you support additional funding for cleanup? >> yes, we would. >> thank you, gentlemen. i yield back. >> mr. grothman? >> thank you. i have some questions for secretary flip. i spent a lot of time in wisconsin government. i know how important it is for the epa and the loguele departmelocal department of natural resources to work together. when did you first hear about the spill? >> i heard about it on thursday morning at about 9:30 in the morning from the southern ute tribe. i heard about it from a staff member that just received notice from the southern ute tribe. >> you didn't hear about it from the epa first? >> no. >> how long was it after the first spill took place? >> about 24 hours when we received notice. >> by somebody other than the epa. how did that delay affect your ability to respo

the navajo nation is at ground zero as well.nislaus, is the problem going to be cleaned up in new mexico, is a going to be cleaned up? >> we have worked with the state of new mexico and other state in he nomination -- the navajo nation. we have shown that it has been restored to pre-spill conditions. there is a long-term solution. lots of discussion among stakeholder groups about discussion of potential superfund's. as i identified in my opening fromment, there is a load a lot of minds, 330 million gallons per year. the animus stakeholders identified that concern as well as the state of colorado is a need for a long-term solution. >> can might friend, dave appears, from w

seemingly he closed his door on the navajo nation in its greatest time of need. and so we're yet to hear from the white house. >> i also have -- well, let me go on. thank you. let me clarify one thing. when you were prohibited there going closer to the site by epa, that was on your sovereign territory where they said you couldn't go any further, is that correct? >> this was up above silverton and it was on colorado land. >> thank you. secretary flynn, the epa has assert that had they have sought to be transparent and work with states in supplying information. has that been your experience? >> chairman, in, i thino, i thi is a lot of room for improvement by the epa on this effort. and i have a good kind of graph or series of graphs that i would like to kind of show you and submit into the record. this first graph, this was actually developed by epa on august 7, the friday right before the plume actually hit new mexico. this was based on information that epa had taken from colorado just south of the spill. and they quickly put this graph out with a message to the p

did the epa called the navajo nation? no. 48 hours.nd then when you offered support to people came down to basically spy to see what was going on there were not going down there to work this to get this cleaned up we will hear from the president of the navajo nation he told us about this. you can shake your head now with that is exactly what happened and it is highly offensive. to hand out waiver forms to limit those liabilities you knew what was happening more than one year period it means. that is what is so deeply concerning one other point is june 2014 the epa contracted with the environmental restoration for the gold king mine the contract says conditions may exist to results in a blowout of blockages to release large contaminants from the the mine that has concentrated heavy-metal''. they knew this was a distinct possibility. more than one year in advance but yet obviously to take the precautions that this did not happen. we do appreciate you being here today but to recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania for his comments. >> i

initially, the navajo nation expressed concern for the u.s. epa handing out and encouraging members of the navajo nation to fill out their form to expedite settlement of their claims. these incidents have led to a culture of distrust toward the epa both among our farmers and leadership. i also want to lay out some of the devastating impacts of the navajo nation. however, i want to stress that all the impacts are yet unknown. first, families have the immediate impact of the additional cost of water delivery and other expenses to, despite this effort, they saw their crops dying each day. second, the loss of crops and the placement of those crops, their seed for their live stock and other, triggers long-term expenses for a nation that already has 42% unemployment rate. third, long-term health effects are not known or fully understood. fourth, the cultural and spiritual impacts are felt in our culture that expresses beauty and harmony. we need to act quickly and thoughtfully. we therefore ask for the following. number one, we need resource to addr

did resupply forms to the navajo nation leadership? absolutely because it is part of an opportunity for individual claims to be made but not a settlement or a release form but we walked through those issues and there is a much better understanding of the process that the federal government has established the am hoping we can utilize your ability to recognize the damage done to fully account that to compensate for that. >> standard 495 ice certified claman covers only from damages from above and agree to accept set amount. >> that is a settlement agreement. again you were totally misleading and out of touch and appropriate -- inappropriate in this instance. my time has expired. the gentleman from pennsylvania. >> and would like to give the administration one dash did minister to answer your question. >> refers to a final settlement this is an application to begin the process that can be added to and amended throughout the entire process a final settlement requires a settlement the claim it actually needs to side of it is the ability to

. >> wahleah johns and her uncle, marshall, are from the navajo nation. their community has been here for centuries - and seen the river carved up over time. the colorado is now the most endangered river in america. despite record drought, the water is being used at the same rate as ever by industry and major cities across the west. >> i think it goes back to the values of american governance. how unsustainable development has been in this country and continues to be unsustainable. >> if the law of god was in place, the law of god says the water's gonna flow downhill. but what did we do? we put a dam here, there, there, and use it to push the water. making it flow uphill. phoenix should have never been developed. tuscon should have never been developed. >> as fears rise about the water running out, we're taking a journey down the colorado to find out who really controls this river - and why - in a time of crisis - they're taking more water than it can supply. >> what does that look like 50 to 100 years from now? i worry about the future generations. what

did the epa called the navajo nation? no. 48 hours. and then when you offered support to people came down to basically spy to see what was going on there were not going down there to work this to get this cleaned up we will hear from the president of the navajo nation he told us about this. you can shake your head now with that is exactly what happened and it is highly offensive. to hand out waiver forms to limit those liabilities you knew what was happening more than one year period it means. that is what is so deeply concerning one other point is june 2014 the epa contracted with the environmental restoration for the gold king mine the contract says conditions may exist to results in a blowout of blockages to release large contaminants from the the mine that has concentrated heavy-metal''. they knew this was a distinct possibility. more than one year in advance but yet obviously to take the precautions that this did not happen. we do appreciate you being here today but to recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania for his comments. >>

epa was trying to get a waiver for the navajo nation. to be able to respond and see real responsibility and accountability out of the epa. dr. wolk, a couple of questions. do you think colorado does a pretty good job in terms of monitoring? we have engineers in colorado, don't

i was a guest of the navajo nation for a couple of years. i know how the tribe is intensely invested, not only financially, but spiritually in their land. >> yes. >> and i was honored to be their guest for a couple of years. what troubles me here is that, you know, we often see how the epa works. they've got an almost maddening hyper-technical compliance regime for businesses. that is often the case. and yet, in this case, internally, it seems that the epa abandoned all that hyper-technical compliance in its own application of its actions. what are we going to do? what are we going to do here to help the navajo recover here? what are we going to do to get this straightened out and cleaned up? can we get a promise from you that you are all in on this and that you are going to be as relentless in cleaning up this -- this spill and this accident as you have been in some cases where you come down on some industries that we're all aware of that found themselves in a similar situation. we need that type of guarantee. we need you to be all in on th

epa delayed notification of the spill to the navajo nation.as not informed of the release until august 6th. the epa demonstrated a complete lack of transparency. they worked to down play the magnitude of the risk of human and animal health. and later reports by u.s. epa were incomplete. additionally, the navajo nation expressed concern for the u.s. epa handing out and encouraging members of the navajo nation to fill out their standard form 95 to expedite settlement of their claims. these incidents have led to a culture of distrust toward the u.s. epa both among our farmers and leadership. i also want to lay out some of the devastating impacts of the navajo nation. however, i want to stress that all the impacts are yet unknown. first, families had the immediate impact of the additional cost of water delivery and other expenses. despite this effort, they saw their crops dying each day. second, the loss of crops and the placement of those crops, their seed and feed for their livestock and other, triggers long-term expenses for a nation that alrea

similarly to what the navajo nation is experiencing today. mine blowouts like the 1975, a huge tailing pond busted, sending 50,000 tons of tailings into the animus, turning it the color of aluminum paint. this was prior to my arrival in durango, and people were still talking about this release. if you can imagine, you pick a color. this was gray, it didn't show up on t vch as bright as orange tech any color orange, but we had the same thing happen in 1975. 1978, there was a huge burst of tens of millions of gallons of water and sludge came down our river. this time it was black, all the way to farmington. so pick your color, these are 24 different types of minerals that have impacted our river, our watershed, throwing all the way through durango, into new mexico, into arizona and ultimately into the colorado river. the gold king mine was draining anywhere from 200 to 500 gallons per minute prior to the blowout. so if you can envision this mountain as a giant geologic whack a mole. you plug one and you build up the pressure of water. these are

navajo nation. from the outset of the spill, it was crucial the environment, epa focused on investigation and slowed the flow of contaminants. water testing testing shows service water of the water has returned but many uncertainties have remained for heightened contamination in spring runoff. if you have seen pictures of recent days where you can disrupt the riverbed, you can see material still being picked up. once the national press disappears from the area there are still serious concerns that exist for colorado's. although the epa has acknowledged the magnitude initial lack of communication and events leading up to and following are suitable for congressional oversight. effective communities deserve transparency, particularly in understanding where epa was during the first hours and days following the spill. for example, the colorado department of public health was the first to notify the city of durango of the gold king release on august 5. the colorado dnr was first to notify the southern ind

epa was trying to get a waiver for the navajo nation. to be able to respond and see real responsibility and accountability out of the epa. dr. wolk, a couple of questions. do you think colorado does a pretty good job in terms of monitoring? we have engineers in colorado, don't we? engineers in colorado? >> yes we do. with water quality engineers so we worked collaborative leave with the epa and others to provide those resources to have a colorado solution. >> part of your job is the people of the state of colorado that the water will be saved. does it concern you that as the chairman noted as a follow-up to my question in the there was zero engineers at the epa working on the mind that had the high potential to blow out? with the state of colorado handled it that way? >> it concerns me but that doesn't mean they were not involved in some capacity. >> you are in the government. it is your job to have oversight. wouldn't have been prudent for the epa to have that oversight to make good choices before we had a catastrophe? >> i don't know i

the navajo nation is at ground zero as well. mr. stanilaus, is the problem going to be cleaned up in new mexico? >> yes. so we have worked with the state of new mexico and other states and the navajo nation. we have provided the data. we have concluded the data has proved it has been restored to previous spill conditions. as i identified in my opening statement, there is a load from a lot of mines about 330 million gallons per year. the animus river has identified that concern as well as the state of colorado as their need for a long-term solution. >> can me friend go home and tell his constituents that the drinking water is safe? can he do that in good conscious right now? >> yes. what we have communicated with the state of new mexico is that the water has returned to pre-incident conditions. >> thank you. i yield back. >> thank you. we have no other members with questions, so let me thank all of our expert witnesses today for their testimony. this has been a very informative hearing. i think you have heard from members on both sid

benn's testified to, impact on the navajo nation. all the gray releases and black releases and others that mayor brooky talked about about. on the call for accountability, we've already heard the epa -- there's 2500 pages up on the internet and i've yet to hear assistance from mr. stanislaus with all the transparency. we want to hold people responsible, but it seems to me they're doing their best to come forward. two years ago peter butler, coordinator of the animus river stakeholders group appeared in a video that highlighted the history of the mines in that region. i would like to ask that video be shown now. >> i'm peter butler with the animus river stakeholders group, one of the co-coordinators. er with here at the redden vanit mine in upper cement creek. the red mine back in about 2000 only put out 15, 17 gallons a minute of acid line drainage which was not very heavily metal-laden. now we have a drainage of around 300 gallons a minute. it's loaded with metals. you can see it coming down the dump pile here in front of us. back i

the unemployment rate of the navajo nation is upwards of 42 percent. people cannot wait and wait through at bureaucratic process to file and wait for their claims. the appellatethe appellate work that i am sure will be necessary to get fair review you have a few seconds to assure me that you are going to do that. >> will do the best we can. >> i can still go for seven seconds, if you want. i'm kidding. mr. newhouse. >> thank you for being here. one of the risks of being a freshmana freshman as i am right down here in the line of fire with you. one question in light of the chairmanchairman wanting to get to the other people who have been patient waiting here. certainly this is an unfortunate incident, one that we must do all we can to prevent from happening again. we need to learn from this but also the word accountability has been thrown around a lot this morning. you haveyou have said as much yourself that you will follow this wherever it goes , and i appreciate that. could you tell me how do you define the accountability hear? what would that look li

the navajo nation also took a pretty big hit from the gold king mine spill. they rely on the river for their drinking water and livestock, but despite the assurances, many nava hose are avoiding the water and putting their livelihood at risk. >> there's nothing growing over there, nothing. >> navajos grow corn and cantaloupe. but when the toxic still made its way to the nearby san juan river, they closed their irrigation canals and stopped watering their crops. >> as you can see, i had a hayfield over here, and i lost all of hay on that side. that's just bare dirt now. >> now, instead of using river water, he uses water from his tap, in addition to water delivered by a local agency. >> carrying a bucket of water, maybe two. all the way down, and this is the only way that i was irrigating. >> tell us why you're not using the water. >> the reason, it's contaminated. and i don't want none of that contaminated water to be coming into hi field. because if it comes into my field and gets onto these crops, what's it going to do? >> this canal should be full of water

have resumed using it. >> the navajo nation is just going by what the government is giving them, youhe information that they are getting from the government, but i don't trust the government at this point. >> reporter: in august, the navajo nation stated would sue the epa for damages and has taken its own samples in preparation, but has yet to release the results. >> do you want to help hold that. >> reporter: scott smith is with water defense a non-profit, assisting the navajo citizens to help conduct the tests. >> this monitors ex expo -- exposure over time. >> reporter: they use a substance to soak up what is in the river. he says the epa's method of taking a sample from the surface doesn't capture what is flowing through the san juan. >> reporter: 99.9% of people i have met from the epa are great people that want to do the right thing, and they will tell you it is those above that tell them to look the other way. >> reporter: the epa denied our request for an interview. and says they will release their tests. meanwhile farmers like these continue to watch their crops die as the c

recognize the president of the navajo nation, who is here. he is seated in the row right behind the two colorado senators. they in particular have been very concerned and on top of this. and he is going to testify this afternoon in the indian affairs committee. sitting back and looking at this and trying to give all of you the big picture as you listen to the two colorado senators who were working closely with -- here you have big mining companies who have been extracting minerals we use in everyday life. many of us believe some of these are very valuable and we need them. but who says that they are entitled to pollute the sacred with a tef waters of two tribes? who says that they should be able to pollute drinking water that our two states use on a daily basis? that really i think in the big picture sense is why we are here, to fix this, to make sure that it never happens again. that's a big task. because this has been going on for a long time, this mining and the pollution from it. people have been working on it for decades. we have not --

. >> wahleah johns and her uncle, marshall, are from the navajo nation.

did the epa called the navajo nation? no. 48 hours. people came down to basically spy to see what was going on there were not going down there to work this to get this cleaned up we will hear from the president of the navajo nation he told us about this. you can shake your head now with that is exactly what happened and it is highly offensive. to hand out waiver forms to limit those liabilities you knew what was happening more than one year period it means. that is what is so deeply concerning one other point is june 2014 the epa contracted with the environmental restoration for the gold king mine the contract says conditions may exist to results in a blowout of blockages to release large contaminants from the the mine that has concentrated heavy-metal''. they knew this was a distinct possibility. more than one year in advance but yet obviously to take the precautions that this did not happen. we do appreciate you being here today but to recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania for his comments. >> in queue administrator mccarthy lung

. >> wahleah johns and her uncle, marshall, are from the navajo nation. their community has been here for centuries - and seen the river carved up over time.

nation to expect that level of collaboration in for your arm process should be respected and supported. your welcome. >> i hope private citizens want the same thing. we appreciate the long distance traveled here written testimony is part of the record i appreciate the detail of your oral testimony. there may be other questions that members may have we will keep the official transcript, the record of committee opened 10 days. and if there are questions please submit a written response within that time period. thank you for your testimony i promise we will not let this go through the? we will maintain until we have definitive answers and changes to go forward. without objection i am the only one here no one will object. the committee stands adjourned. [inaudible conversations] c-span.org. [applause] >> next, jimmy carter gives an update on his cancer treatment to an audience at the carter center in atlanta. the former president was joined to discuss the senators global initiatives and current world events. this is one hour. [applause] [applause] >> thank you very much to all of you. [ina

in 1979 a breach dam nurture truck new mexico, on the navajo nation sent more than 1000 tons of solid radioactive waste and 93 million gallons of acidic liquid into the river. for decades before the spill last month it leaked heavy metals into samet cres over the last ten years and and average of 200 gallons of highly polluted water per minute, or more thansee 00 million gallons per year have flowed out of this mind and into the river. beyond the immediate cleanup of the spell it is time we overhaul our abandoned mine cleanup policies. we need to make future disasters like this less likel@ ar while resources like oil, natural gas, and coal all pay royalties to return of fate value to taxpayers, hard rxak mining companies can still mind valuable roles for free. a comprehensive approach to refouan should include the establishment of a hard rock reclamation fund. funded by a fair royalty. in a comprehensive survey of abandoned mines and a plan to clean them up. i appreciate the value of hard rock mining and what it means for families. my father and my mother's father father both made a

. >> as well as the navajo nation and while the epa has admitted one of its crews mistakenly misy caused the disaster. >> epa demonstrated a complete lack of rg transparency. >> the scale of the spill has amplified the epa's failure. aaroerin brockovich observed the results. >> they don't have the results of what's really coming through their river. >> some navajo irrigation systems remain shut until results of the tribe's own tests come in. >> you can smell death in that river and that's not good. >> courtney kealy, al jazeera. >> the former president of united airlines, while not accused of any wrongdoing, the scandal is causing unwanted headaches for the new jersey governor and presidential candidate chris christie. david schuster explains why. >> in the midst of a struggling presidential campaign it's not kind of news chris christie needs. one of his closest friends and political allies is embroiled in a federal criminal probe. david sampson is investigated over a deal he made with united airlines. on tuesday, smisek and two other executives resigned over allegations the airline rein

amanda is a social worker and a citizen of the navajo nation. she's known as her work -- as an activist in the -- in this controversy over the name of the washington football team. she is the lead plaintiff in black horse against pro-football inc. [ applause ] >> to her right is leo killsback. he is an assistant professor of american indian studies at arizona state. he is a citizen of the cheyenne nation of southeastern montana. his dissertation was entitled the chief's prophecy during a critical era, 1876 to 1935 and it is an epic history of northern cheyenne leaders governance and leadership system. so please welcome professor killsback. [ applause ] >> to my left is jim warne. and mr. warny is a citizen of the la coda tribe. he has a bachelor of science from saerz state university and an m.s. from san diego state university. he also earned a post graduate certificate in rehabilitation administration. he is the tvr circle training coordinator through the san diego state university interwork institute. jim administers the post employment traini

. >> leveled the accusation against the epa during visit to navajo nation and farmers yesterday. epa mistakenly spilled mine waste into the rivers, the epa's estimate that 3 million gallons spilled, that's up from an initial figure of just 1 million gallons. we say just. but questioning their estimate altogether. the epa is not commented on the assertion. by the way the faked activist portrayed in the fill woman her same name, starring julia roberts in the year 2,000. i think julia roberts won best actress awards for that. >> dog found in georgia recovering after he's rescued what experts say the brink every death. >> now when authorities found the two year old boxer tied up outside after church they say he looked like a skeleton. the pictures hard to see. his ribs and spine poking through his skin. vets say his body score ranked a one out of ten. that means, he had absolutely no fat on him. and it lost all muscle mass. he can barely walk when he was brought into the shelter. his foster mom says he's finally starting to show signs of improvement. and a facebook post she said he i

heard that as well and found it incredibly disturbing that the epa was trying to get a waiver for the navajo nation people in particular to be able to respond and to be able to seek real responsibility and accountability out of the epa. dr. wolk, do you think colorado does a pretty good job in terms of monitor something we have engineers in colorado, don't we? >> yes, sir, we do, depending on the situation.something we have engineers in colorado, don't we? >> yes, sir, we do, depending on the situation. water quality engineers, mine engineers. so we workrollaboratively to provide the resources. as you know, we have a colorado solution. >> and we have a colorado solution and part of your job is to make sure that the people in the state of colorado and we've obviously got a concur responsibility to our neighboring states, as well, that the water will actually be safe. does it concern you when we hear that as chairman bishop noted in followup to my question that they have zero engineers at the epa, that they were up working on a mine that they said had the high potential to be able to below out

nation on local communities. on your screen is guy na mccarthy. she will testify along with tribal officials who were affected by the areas where the spill occurred. just about to get under way live here on c-span3.

here on the navajo nation in the northern part of the new mexico, farmers are still feeling the impact. the e.p.a. says the san juan river is safe, but local navajo farmers worry it's still contaminated and some of letting their crops die rather than expose their land to tox i believe so. a month after the mine spill, many citizens are asking questions about what's in the river and staying away from the water until they get answers. al jazeera, new mexico. >> you can watch the full report tonight at 7:00 eastern. >> the race for space got a new competitor. new plans were unveiled to build a rocket manufacturing plant and launch site in florida. he is investing $200 million to build his facility. he said his rockets will be ready by the end of the decade. >> that's it for us here. thanks for watching. have a great morning. at morning. >> millions at stake. shady investments. limited oversight. >> super pacs are part of the wild wild west of campaign finance. >> could actor daniel craig be the latest super pac scam victim? an ali velshi, on target, special investigation. >> saints and si

i see the president of the navajo nation. it is very important for them as well. and the response plan. senator gardener mentioned when he was on site four days later there was still not annan adequate appropriate crisis team in place. would you have a response to that? >> i a apologize that i wasn't here. i wasn't realizing that the senator was testifying. so we actually had a response team in place. we had on-scene coordinators we had more than a couple hundred epa staff. we immediately put that in motion how to set up command centers. we moved as quickly as we were we anticipate it will be better. >> if they don't, i know the office of inspector general will certainly be looking at that. epa will inspectly be looking at that as well. >> that was a huge issue in the spill. timing wise, the national response center wasn't notified until an hour and a half later. you were luck where because you were able to get the down water folks, water intakes -- you had enough -- >> yes, we did. >> -- mileage there. but if it happened at the source, our community, you wouldn't

and navajo nation, who actually notified you? >> we were notified by state of new mexico. >> and then you notified utah, as well is th? >> yes. >> so when epa talks about their notification process, it was basically nonexistent. s they didn't notify squat. we did hao have one other membe i'm stretching here it see if i can get one other person to ask some questions. there is also -- is she coming? all right. let me just kind of pontificate will this if i could. we have also had votes that are called, so we will end this very quickly. i appreciate the notification and i want to emphasize the fact that you have three districts of the epa involved and they also were very late in getting notified. the people on the ground doing that kind of work, they didn't have a great notification process either. so i'll give her the last chance of asking some questions, but let me just say that i have tried to emphasize how frustrated that i am that the epa insisted to having their own panel that consumed three of the four and a half hours of whi

>> we have worked with the state of new mexico and other state in he nomination -- the navajo nation. we have shown that it has been restored to pre-spill conditions. there is a long-term solution. lots of discussion among stakeholder groups about discussion of potential superfund's. as i identified in my opening fromment, there is a load a lot of minds, 330 million gallons per year. the animus stakeholders identified that concern as well as the state of colorado is a need for a long-term solution. >> can might friend, dave appears, from new mexico go home until his constituents that he can -- that they can drink the water? water has returned to pre-incident conditions. >> field back. >> we have no other matters with questions, so let me thank forof our experts their testimony. i think both members of the inle for their interest cleaning up the problem and making sure it doesn't happen again. i am looking forward to the conclusion of this investigation. we do want someone to be held accountable. we want the epa to take response billy. thank you all, we are adjourned. -- we want the ep

the navajo nation was not informed until a full day after the spill. they got the news not from the e.p.a., but from the state of new mexico. not from the agency that caused the disaster. at first e.p.a. didn't even want to admit how bad the spill really was. they said oh, it was a million gallons of wastewater. days later they admitted that they had actually spilled three times the amount that they said at first. four days after the spill, e.p.a. still hadn't reported to navajo leaders the presence of arsenic in the water. that water, arsenic, still hadn't reported it. it took five days for the agency to set up a unified command center in durango, colorado. yesterday i chaired a hearing of the indian affairs committee to look at how this disaster affected tribes along the route. the agency's explanation was disappointing. very disappointing. the disaster happened over six weeks ago. the e.p.a. is still not giving out detailed answers about what went wrong. this tragedy also raises questions about the e.p.a.'s basic competence. according to a prelimina

i see the president of the navajo nation. it is very important for them as well. another issue was on the crisis response plan. senator gardner mentioned when he was on site four days later there was not an adequate appropriate crisis team in place. would you have a response to that? >> i'm happy to -- i apologize that i wasn't here. i wasn't realizing that the senator was testifying. so we actually had a response team in place. we had on-scene coordinators. we had more than a couple hundred epa staff. we immediately put that in motion how to set up command centers. we have an area command center that we have since set up. we moved as quickly as we could. we always will look back to see could we have done it better, could we have done it quicker? >> do you anticipate that will be part of the report, looking at the crisis report, the crisis response? >> if they don't, i know the office of inspector general will certainly be looking at that. epa independently will be looking at that as well. >> that was a huge issue in the spill. timing wise, the national response c